Mystery WWII letter resurfaces at post office

A mystery letter found in a Muskegon post office dates back to the World War II era, FOX17 reports.

Now, officials are working to track down the relatives of either who sent it or who it was sent to.

It's not very often the post office can't get a letter back to the sender, but nearly 70 years later they never expected they would come across a letter with such history.

Muskegon Post Master Bill Rowe says in his 20 years of working for the U.S. Postal Service, this is a first.

Rowe says a mail carrier who is a veteran himself brought it to management's attention after he saw it was from an army base, knowing this letter had more to it.

Over the old stamp, was a post mark from Minneapolis from September 2013, who or why someone put it back in the mail stream isn't clear.

Rowe says it looks like the envelope hasn't been opened, and it even has old tape still over the seal.

Addressed once to a Mr. and Mrs. Sensabaugh on Washington Ave. in Muskegon, that house now sits empty and has for some time.

The letter came from Sgt. Myron Cook from an APO base out of New York. Rowe says they did some research with the help of Richard Mullally, who focuses on the history of World War II veterans in Muskegon County and found that the Sensabaugh family had a son in the Navy.

They learned Lee Edward Sensabaugh was a graduate of Muskegon Sr. High school and joined the Navy in 1945. He passed away in 2010.

Rowe just hopes they will be able to get the letter to either relatives of the Sensabaughs or Cooks, leaving it up to them to open of the history inside.

"I don't think that Sgt. Cook would have ever thought that letter would ever get that much attention all these years later," he said.

Another clue Mullally found is that the Sensabaughs moved south to Florida during and after the war.

He also found a Myron C. Cook, not necessarily the one who wrote the letter, entered the Army in Kalamazoo. Myron and his wife lived out their lives in North Muskgeon but both have since passed away.

My parents and I moved to Florida in 1976. In about 5 years we got a small package in the mail and the people that bought our house in Ohio found my dads navy dog tags up in the attice of the house. They hunted us down and sent them to us. I now have them hanging on my dresser. My dad was on a PT boat during WWII. He died 11/85. Love you dad and miss you!

It's good to know there are still people in these United States of America that really are "united" and care about our neighbors and their families even if we have never before met them or may never hear from them again. I hope you enjoy the true gift that this patron has given to you so you can have a special momento of your father.

Let me fill you good citizens in on the USPS. This will shed some light on why it's going broke. On 2 May 2014 I went to the Munnsville, NY post office to mail a package to Oregon. Was told by the FEMALE in charge that she was too busy to deal with packages. Ok? Proceeded to the Oriskany Falls, NY post office to mail same package. The FEMALE in charge had to call someone somewhere to get help in figuring out the shipping cost. DUH? On the 16th of May, that's right, the 16th,I received a call from the man whom I sent the package to in Oregon. Finally arrived after spending $43.00 on shipping fee. This is where it gets interesting. The FEMALE in charge of the mans post office said she couldn't release the package to him until proof of sort was produced to show that in fact the package was paid for to be shipped. Nice, huh? I had to take a picture of my receipt, send it to the recipient of package so he could show the FEMALE in charge that indeed said package was paid for to be shipped.

OBAMA WILL OPEN IT HE IS GOD [HE THINKS ]----------------------------------- THE NEW MERANDA RIGHTS NOW CALLED ------OBAMA RIGHTS---------YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO PAY FOR TAXES AND ENTITLEMENTS ANYTHING YOU THINK SAY OR DO WILL BE CONSIDERED RACIST AND USED AGAINST YOU IN A COURT OF LAW

I mailed my niece a small package a few months after my mother passed away in 2011. The package contained my mothers crochet hooks. My mother showed her grand-daughter (my Niece) how to crochet so I thought it was appropriate she should have them. She never received them. I have a receipt asking for delivery confirmation, which show it was delivered but it was not. My Niece, her mother and myself had contacted the post office asking about the package, with no luck. It has now been over three years and we still do no know what happened to that special package.

Can I offer an explanation of why old letters like this are sometimes found in the mail and no one knows why? For I time I worked for supply at the Main Post Office in Phila.,Pa.. In the basement of that huge post office where old equipment was stored,I often found a letter left in an old sorting case. I don't know why people in postal management act like it's a big mystery. Apparently they don't think of checking old equipment.